Description
Wrestler Joe Carroll Marsh Original Cabinet Card by Solberg Circa 1905 (Frank Gotch)
Before and after the Yukon trip, both Gotch and his manager Joe Carroll, who was then using the name Ole Marsh, were members of Farmer Burns’ troupe. While there are some indications that Gotch was simply a happy-go-lucky farm kid out on a lark, Carroll, perhaps with Burns’ arrangement, was pulling what was known as the “badger game.” In this oft-used pro wrestling scam of that era, Carroll would show up in a gold rush boomtown such as Dawson City in the Yukon Territory and proclaim himself “the champion of the Yukon.” He would then orchestrate a series of challenge and “grudge” matches between himself and other wrestlers, in this case Col. J.H. McLaughlin and Gotch. McLaughlin had been a pro wrestler since the post- Civil War period and claimed the world collar and elbow championship since 1870. Gotch meanwhile was the “ringer.” His cover was that of “Frank Kennedy” of Springfield, Missouri, and he was a Filipino-American War veteran prospecting for gold.
Following several matches that drew big crowds and generated lots of wagering, Carroll and Gotch left the Yukon Territory, and in February 1902 they appeared in Omaha for a series of bouts involving Farmer Burns and a pair of “Terrible Turks.” Later that same year, Gotch was back wrestling in the Pacific Northwest as “Frank Kennedy.” At this time, it is unknown if he made it back up to Dawson City, but during 1903-1904 he was in Bellingham, Washington, where he held a US championship match with Tom Jenkins.
While in the Pacific Northwest, Carroll served as Gotch’s manager. But, after Gotch went on to defeat American champion Tom Jenkins, world champion George Hackenschmidt, and all other challengers, he and Carroll parted ways. Carroll remained in the Seattle area, where he wrestled, promoted, and managed wrestlers such as Dr. B. F. Roller and Bert Warner. However, in 1910 Carroll was arrested, tried, and convicted as part of the Maybray Gang, a nationwide group of swindlers led by John C. Maybray that scammed at least $2,000,000 over a two-year period by fixing wrestling and boxing contests as well as horse and foot races. In this organization, Carroll’s role was that of a “steerer.” In other words, it was his job to locate suckers and steer them to bet on a contest. Carroll would assure the “mark” of the result and then fleece him out of his wager. After serving a prison sentence in Leavenworth, Carroll returned to the wrestling business and as J.C. Marsh barnstormed the country, first with Marin Plestina and then with Jack Sherry.
“Penitentiary Doors Yawn for Joe Carroll”
Seattle Times, March 10, 1910…
“Joe Carroll and Bert Warner, well known in Seattle, and Wynn Harris, of Spokane, yesterday pleaded guilty at Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the charge of conspiracy to defraud, rather than stand trial in the federal court there.
There are about eighty members of the famous John C. Maybray (Sic) gang under indictment back there, and it is believed that others will plead guilty. Carroll, who was indicted under the name of George Marsh, is well known in Seattle. He came to the Northwest country more than ten years ago and gained an unenviable notoriety up in the Klondike region. He took Frank Gotch up there under the name of Kennedy, and a lot of trusting miners were plucked of their gold dust betting against Kennedy.
“Later, Gotch and Carroll stopped at Bellingham quite a while. Carroll was Gotch’s manager and boosted him into the championship. After the wrestling game had been put on the blink in Bellingham, Gotch went East and Carroll came to Seattle.
“He had no part in any public matches around here until he took Dr. Roller under his wing, but there were rumors of fake matches pulled off in a little house on the shores of Union Bay.
“Carroll and Roller made good money in the wrestling game here, but when Roller went East he went alone and put himself under the management of Jack Curley in Chicago. Carroll then began a systematic campaign to discredit Roller and kill the wrestling game in Seattle…”
Roller’s manager Joe Carroll, a man who had managed the North American champion Frank Gotch for several years in the Yukon Territory and Washington State. Unfortunately, Carroll was also more corrupt than was the average promoter, which is saying a lot. But, as Roller disliked fleecing people (he didn’t mind working a crowd, but he thought the paying customers should get some entertainment for their money), he and Carroll eventually parted ways. This annoyed Carroll, so besides importing wrestlers he thought could beat Roller, he also started calling him a crook.
“Joe Carroll Now Learning Art of Brick Making at Pen,” Seattle Times, April 10, 1910, 23.
For his part, Maybray only said, “I never ‘milked’ an honest man.” Carroll meanwhile returned to promoting wrestling, and as late as 1920, he was telling anyone who would listen that wrestling matches were fixed, and that the current champion, Jim Londos, refused to meet anyone on the level. (Which was true — in March 1934, Pete Ladjimi said in a Los Angeles court that the only people allowed to wrestle Londos had previously agreed to let Londos win — but back then the fans didn’t want to hear that.)
